High porosity vitrified superabrasive products and method of preparation

ABSTRACT

A vitrified superabrasive product includes a superabrasive component and a vitrified bond component in which the superabrasive component is dispersed, wherein the vitrified bond component defines pores occupying greater than about 50% of the total volume of the vitrified superabrasive product. The vitrified superabrasive product can be in the form of a grinding tool, such as a grinding wheel. A superabrasive mixture includes a glass powder, a superabrasive grit, a binder and a silicon carbide. The mixture can be in the form of a green body, which is fired under an atmosphere and pressure, and at a temperature sufficient to form a porous vitrified superabrasive product.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 61/132,808, filed Jun. 23, 2008, incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Since this world is moving towards thinner and smaller devices, therequirements for thinner wafers (less than 50 microns) is growing. Toachieve higher strength of ground silicon wafers, use of smaller grainswill be required. During grinding, a decrease in the size of the grainin the composite microstructure will decrease the force required toreduce the effective chip thickness coming out of the wafer. As a resultof reduced chip thickness, the strength of the final ground siliconwafers will increase. In addition, new developments in wafermanufacturing technology are moving toward wafers of larger size,thereby causing increasing difficulty in maintaining flatness of a waferduring the grinding process.

Many conventional abrasive tools employed in roughing and finishingthese materials include metal-bonded superabrasive. Metal-bondedabrasive tools generally grind fewer parts per hour than glass-bondedtools. Further, metal-bonded abrasive tools can contaminate surfaces ofcomponents to be incorporated into electronic devices, thereby severelylimiting their use for grinding applications or slicing silicon wafers.

Typically, vitrified bonded tools offer a higher stiffness and lowdegradation, thereby resulting in better tolerances, flatness in productand an increase number of parts that can be produced per wheel. Althoughvitrified bonded grinding tools could be employed having a lower gritsize, they typically do not have sufficient self-dressing ability due tolow porosity or pore structure.

Resin bonds are often exhibit higher wear and have a self-dressingability. Typically, the relatively low stiffness of resin bonds produceslower surface roughness or a better finish than grinding tools thatemploy a vitrified bond and grains of similar grit size. However, resinbonds typically can not be used where grit size is lower than 2 micronsbecause the grains are pushed inside of the compliant resin bond duringgrinding, thereby requiring higher applied pressure and, consequently,causing elevated temperature at the grinding surface. As a result, whenparticularly applied to larger wafers, maintaining an acceptableflatness of the wafer during grinding becomes more difficult.

A preferred structure for backgrinding will be resin bondedsuperabrasive wheels. Life of the resin bonded superabrasive wheels isnot at all attractive with smaller grains. Therefore, there is a needfor a high porosity vitrified superabrasive wheel with finer grains witha self-dressing ability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention generally relates to a vitrified diamond superabrasiveproduct, and a method of making the vitrified superabrasive product.

The vitrified superabrasive product of the invention includes asuperabrasive component and a vitrified bond component in which thesuperabrasive component is dispersed, wherein the vitrified bondcomponent defines pores occupying greater than about 50% of the totalvolume at the vitrified superabrasive product.

In another embodiment, the invention is a vitrified superabrasive thatincludes a vitrified bond component including silica and having aporosity of at least about 50% of the total volume of the vitrifieddiamond abrasive. A superabrasive component is dispersed in thevitrified bond component. The superabrasive component consistsessentially of particles having a number average particle size in arange of between about 0.5 microns and about 60 microns, and wherein thevolume ratio of the superabrasive component to the vitrified bondcomponent is in a range of between about 3:2 and about 1:99.

In still another embodiment, the invention is directed to a grindingtool that includes a base and a vitrified superabrasive component at asurface of the base. The vitrified superabrasive component includes asuperabrasive component and a vitrified bond component in which thesuperabrasive component is dispersed. The vitrified bond componentdefines pores occupying greater than about 50% of the total volume ofthe vitrified superabrasive component.

In still another embodiment, the invention is a superabrasive mixture,comprising a glass powder, a superabrasive grit, a binder and a siliconcarbide. In a specific embodiment, the glass powder includes at leastone member selected from the group consisting of silicon dioxide (SiO₂),boron oxide (B₂O₃), aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), alkali oxides (Li₂O, Na₂O,K₂O) and alkaline earth oxides (CaO, MgO, BaO). The superabrasive gritincludes diamond particulates having a number average particle size in arange of between about 0.5 microns and about 60 microns, and wherein thevolume ratio of the superabrasive grit to glass particles in a range ofbetween about 3:2 and about 1:99. The binder includes at least onemember selected from a group consisting of polyethylene glycol, water, amixture of polyethylene glycol and water, and colloidal silica. Siliconcarbide is present in the form of particles having a number average sizein a range of between about 0.1 microns and about 20 microns. Thesilicon carbide is present in the mixture in a range of between about0.1 and about 5 volume percent of the total amount of glass powder,superabrasive grit, binder and silicon carbide components of themixture.

In a further embodiment, the invention is directed to a method offorming a vitrified superabrasive, comprising the steps of forming agreen body from the mixture of a glass powder, a superabrasive grit, abinder and silicon carbide. The green body is fired under an atmosphereand pressure, and at a temperature, sufficient to cause the siliconcarbide to oxidize.

This invention has several advantages. For example, use of siliconcarbide as a foaming agent provides relatively high porosity for avitrified product. The product, therefore, has the advantages of beingable to bind superabrasive particles having relatively small size andyet has sufficient porosity to be self-dressing without sacrificing thestrength necessary to effectively polish larger silicon wafers. As aconsequence, the vitrified superabrasive products of the inventionproduce relatively low surface roughness and better finish thantypically is obtained by vitrified bond abrasive products, whileretaining the advantages of vitrified superabrasive tools.

Porosity plays an important role in grinding. Porosity controls thecontact area between the work piece and the composite microstructure.Porosity also facilitates movement of coolant around the microstructureto keep the grinding surface temperature as low as possible.

The homogeneity of the structure defined by tight distribution of thepore sizes around mean sizes of pores directly relates to a consistentand steady grinding performance. Much bigger pores than the mean size ofpores act as defects and adversely affect the consistency of grinding.Moreover, the aspect ratio provides another measure for the homogeneityof the structure. A value close to 1 indicates high degree ofhomogeneity. This invention provides a combination of tight distributionof pore sizes, low defect content and an aspect ratio close to 1.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The FIGURE is a cross-section of one embodiment of a tool that employs avitrified superabrasive product of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The foregoing will be apparent from the following more particulardescription of example embodiments of the invention, as illustrated inthe accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer tothe same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustratingembodiments of the present invention.

The invention is generally related to vitrified superabrasive products,their precursors, and methods of their manufacture.

“Superabrasive,” as that term is employed herein, means abrasives havinga hardness, as measured on the Knoop Hardness Scale of at least that ofcubic boron nitride (CBN), i.e., a K₁₀₀ of at least 4,700. In additionto cubic boron nitride, other examples of superabrasive materialsinclude natural and synthetic diamond. Suitable diamond or cubic boronnitride materials can be crystalline or polycrystalline. Preferably, thesuperabrasive material is diamond.

The superabrasive material is in the form of grain, also known as“grit.” The superabrasive grain component of the invention can beobtained commercially or can be custom-produced. Generally, thesuperabrasive employed in the present invention has a number averageparticle size in a range of between about 0.5 micrometers (microns, μm)and about 60 μm. Preferably, the particle size is in a range of betweenabout 1 μm and about 60 μm. A particularly preferred size is 1-2 μm.“Number average,” as that term is employed herein, means the median, orthe value where one-half of the particle population is above the valueand one-half is below the value.

In one embodiment, the superabrasive grain component is present in anamount of at least about 0.1% by volume of the superabrasive tool. Inanother embodiment, the superabrasive grain component is present in anamount in a range of between about 1% and about 20% by volume of thesuperabrasive tool, more preferably between about 2% and about 10% byvolume of the superabrasive tool.

In one embodiment, the vitrified superabrasive product of the inventionincludes a superabrasive component that includes at least one memberselected from the group consisting of diamond, cubic boron nitride,zirconia and aluminum oxide.

In one embodiment, the superabrasive component of the vitrifiedsuperabrasive product is diamond. In a particularly preferredembodiment, the volume ratio of diamond to vitrified bond component ofthe vitrified superabrasive is in a range of between about 3:2 and about1:99.

The vitrified bond component is a suitable vitrified bond component,such as is known in the art. Examples of suitable vitrified bondcomponents include at least one member selected from a group consistingof silicon dioxide (SiO₂), boron oxide (B₂O₃), aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃),alkali oxides (Li₂O, Na₂O, K₂O) and alkaline earth oxides (CaO, MgO,BaO).

Typically, the vitrified superabrasive product of the invention asconfigured at least a component of a grinding tool. An example of asuitable grinding tool is a wheel.

In one preferred embodiment, the vitrified superabrasive product is afixed abrasive vertical spindle (FAVS). An example of a FAVS, is shownin the FIGURE. As shown in the FIGURE, tool 10 is configured as a wheelhaving a base 12 about an axis 14. Raised perimeter 16 of wheel supportsabrasive segment 18 about the perimeter of base 12. Abrasive segment isone embodiment of a vitrified superabrasive product of the invention.Typically, base will have a diameter in a range of between about sixinches and about twelve inches, the height of the abrasive segment willbe in a range of between about 2 millimeters (mm) and about 20millimeters and have a width of between about 2 millimeters and about 10millimeters Wheels, as described with reference to the FIGURE, aresuitable for wafer grinding by rotation about their axis. In a directioncounterclockwise to a rotation of the axis of a wafer being ground bythe tool. Methods for grinding wafers by use of grinding wheels asgenerally described with respect to the FIGURE are known in the art.

In another embodiment, the invention is a superabrasive mixture thatincludes a glass powder, a superabrasive grit, a binder and siliconcarbide. In a particularly preferred embodiment the superabrasive gritincludes diamond particulate. Generally, the volume ratio ofsuperabrasive grit to glass powder is in a range of between about 3:2and about 1:99. Examples of suitable glass powder include silicondioxide (SiO₂), boron oxide (B₂O₃), aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) and potassiumoxide (K₂O). Preferred glass powder, or “frits,” are those that haverelatively low glass transition such as in a range of between about 450°C. and about 800° C.

Examples of suitable binder include polyethylene glycol, water, amixture of polyethylene glycol and water and colloidal silica.

In one embodiment, the SiC is 1200 grit “37C” SiC from Saint-GobainCeramics & Plastics, Inc., Worcester, Mass. Preferably, the siliconcarbide is present in the mixture in a range of between about 0.1 andabout 5 volume percent of the total amount of glass powder, abrasivegrit, binder and silicon carbide components of the mixture.

In one particular preferred embodiment, the superabrasive mixtureincludes a glass powder that includes at least one member selected froma group consisting of silicon dioxide (SiO₂), boron oxide (B₂O₃),aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), alkali oxides (Li₂O, Na₂O, K₂O) and alkalineearth oxides (CaO, MgO, BaO). The abrasive grit of the superabrasivemixture includes a diamond particulate having a number average particlesize in a range of between about 0.5 microns and about 60 microns, andwherein the mass ratio of the superabrasive to glass particles is in arange of between about 3:2 and about 1:99. The binder includes at leastone member selected from a group consisting of polyethylene glycol,water, a mixture of polyethylene glycol and water and colloidal silica.The silicon carbide of superabrasive mixtures in the form of particleshaving a number average particle size in a range of between about 0.1microns and about 20 microns, wherein the silicon carbide is present inthe mixture in an amount in a range of between about 0.1 and about 5volume percent of the total amount of glass powder, abrasive grit,binder and silicon carbide components of the mixture. In one embodiment,the superabrasive mixture is a green body precursor to a vitrifiedsuperabrasive product.

A method of forming a vitrified superabrasive product of the inventionincludes forming a green body that includes a glass powder, asuperabrasive grit, a binder and silicon carbide. The green body isfired under an atmosphere and pressure, and at a temperature sufficientto form a porous vitrified superabrasive structure.

The green body, or superabrasive mixture, employed in forming thevitrified superabrasive product, has the features described above withrespect to the superabrasive mixture or green body embodiments of theinvention. A superabrasive mixture of the invention is formed bycombining the components of the mixture in a suitable manner, such as isknown in the art. A green body of the invention can be formed from themixture, also by a suitable method, such as is known in the art. Thegreen body typically is fired under an atmosphere at a temperature in arange of between about 600° C. and 820° C. for a period of time in arange of between about one-half hour and about ten hours. The firedproduct is then allowed to cool by a suitable method, such as bynaturally-cooling of the furnace, to thereby form the superabrasiveproduct of the invention.

The invention is further described by the following examples which arenot intended to be limiting.

EXEMPLIFICATION

A high porosity vitrified diamond superabrasive structure of theinvention was made by firing a mixture of a superabrasive grain, a glassfrit, a binder and a silicon carbide powder. A mixture of the abrasivegrain, glass frit and silicon carbide was prepared first and then,binder was added to it. The composition of the mixture in volumepercentage, before firing, was: 19% diamond, 80% glass frit, 1% of SiC.Polyethylene glycol in water (PEG) solution was used as binder and itwas used in 15 mass percentage of the above mix. The polyethylene glycolwas purchased from Union Carbide Corporation, USA. Diamond of grit size1-2 micron was obtained from Diamond Innovation, Inc, OH, USA. Glassfrit used composed of following oxides: Al₂O₃, B₂O₃, BaO, CaO, Fe₂O₃,K₂O, Li₂O, MgO, Na₂O, SiO₂, ZnO and ZrO₂.

SiC of 1200 grit was used and it was obtained from Saint-Gobain Ceramics& Plastics, Inc., Worcester, Mass. USA.

All the components of the mixture except PEG were weighed in a steelbowl to obtain the above-described superabrasive mixture. A steel spoonwas used to blend all powder components of the mixture until a visuallyhomogeneous mix was obtained. The blend was then screened three timesthrough a 165 mesh stainless steel mesh. (Generally, the mesh size canrange from about 40 to about 400 mesh.) Binder was added to the mixturein the amount specified above. The mixture was again spoon blended untilall the binder was integrated into it. The mixture was screened onceusing a 20 mesh stainless screen mesh to obtain granules. (Generally,the mesh size can range from about 4 to about 60 mesh (stainless).)These granules were spread on wax paper and left to dry for one day.(Generally, the range can be from about 1 hour to about 3 days.) Afterthe drying, granules were screened using a 16 mesh screen. (Generally,the mesh range can be from about 4 to about 60 mesh.)

The theoretical density of the final mixture was calculated usinginformation on their proportion in the mixture. This information wasused to obtain the weight of the granules needed to make a disc 5″ indiameter (Generally, the range can be from about 1″ to about 10″) and0.200″ height (Generally, the range can be from about 0.100″ to about5″). To make the green body for firing, dried granules were weighed andtransferred into a stainless steel mould 5.00″ in diameter and leveledusing a small steel plate. The whole mould setup was now transferredonto a cold isostatic press. A pressure of 1 Ton/in² was applied toyield a green body. (Generally, the range can be from about 0.1 to about10 Ton/in².)

This green body was transferred into a furnace and following firingschedule was applied: 5° C./min ramp to 550° C. from room temperature,soak for 60 min at 550° C., 5° C./min ramp to 700° C., soak for 240 minat 700° C. and the naturally cool down in the furnace. The furnaceatmosphere was air. Example of other suitable alternatives includenitrogen, vacuum and argon. (Also, generally, the range of temperaturecan be from 600° C. to about 820° C., and the time for firing can befrom about 0.1 hours to about 10 hours.

The resulting superabrasive product had essentially no pores having adiameter greater than 250 μm. About 80% of the pores had a diameter in arange of between about 100 μm and 200 μm, and the average aspect ratioof the pores was less than about 1.2. Porosity of the superabrasiveproduct was estimated to be in a range of between about 62% and about68%.

In other embodiments, essentially no bubbles will be larger than about800 μm, or no larger than about 500 μm. Further, in preferredembodiments, about 80% of the bubbles will have diameters in a range ofbetween about 60 μm and about 500 μm, or between about 80 μm and about300 μm. In still other embodiments, about 80% will have a diameterbetween about 150 μm and about 250 μm, or between about 200 μm and about300 μm. Further, in preferred embodiments the average aspect ratio(largest:smallest diameter) of the pores is no greater than about 1.5,or no greater than about 1.3. Still further, in another embodiment, theporosity is between about 50% and about 90%, or between about 60% andabout 74%.

The fired body was dome-shaped. It was lapped into a disc shape toeasily cut out segments for making a superabrasive wheel. A speedfamedouble sided lap unit was employed for lapping. The lap unit used280/400 grit SiC for lapping. The lapped plate was cut into segmentsusing a waterjet cutting machine. These segments were mounted on a 5″wheel using glue to make a superabrasive wheel of the invention. Asecond wheel was then made to the same specification.

The wheels were tested on a backgrinding machine (Disco 840 machine).The wheel was dressed using an extra-fine pad. The wheels were used togrind 8 inch silicon wafers. The silicon wafers were rough ground with arough wheel followed by fine wheel—the same specification mentionedabove. Three different incremental feed rates were used to evaluate thegrinding performances. All the feed rates are listed in the table.

Feed rates in Numbers microns/second Current in Amps 1 0.2, 0.1, 0.15.5-6.1 2 0.3, 0.2, 0.2 7.1-7.3 3 0.5, 0.3, 0.2 8.4-8.6

Both the wheels drew current in the comparable range at all the feedrates. During the first and second tests, 25 wafers and 75 wafers wereground, respectively.

EQUIVALENTS

While this invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may bemade therein without departing from the scope of the inventionencompassed by the pending claims.

1. A vitrified superabrasive product, comprising: a) a superabrasivecomponent; and b) a vitrified bond component in which the superabrasivecomponent is dispersed, wherein the vitrified bond component definespores that are essentially all less than 800 μm in diameter, eightypercent of which are in a range of between about 60 μm and about 500 μm,have an average aspect ratio less than about 1.5, and have a porosity ina range of between about 50% and about 90% of the total volume of thesuperabrasive product.
 2. The vitrified superabrasive product of claim1, wherein the superabrasive component includes at least one memberselected from the group consisting of diamond, cubic boron nitride,zirconia and aluminum oxide.
 3. The vitrified superabrasive product ofclaim 2, wherein the superabrasive component is present in an amount ina range of between about 0.1 and about 20 volume percent of thevitrified diamond superabrasive.
 4. The vitrified superabrasive productof claim 3, wherein the number average particle size of thesuperabrasive component is in a range of between about 0.5 microns andabout 60 microns.
 5. The vitrified superabrasive product of claim 3,wherein the volume ratio of diamond abrasive component to vitrified bondcomponent is in a range of between about 3:2 and about 1:99.
 6. Thevitrified superabrasive product of claim 1, wherein the vitrified bondcomponent includes at least one member selected from the groupconsisting of silicon dioxide (SiO₂), boron oxide (B₂O₃), aluminum oxide(Al₂O₃), alkali oxides (Li₂O, Na₂O, K₂O) and alkaline earth oxides (CaO,MgO, BaO).
 7. The vitrified superabrasive product of claim 1, whereinthe vitrified diamond superabrasive is configured as at least acomponent of a grinding tool.
 8. The vitrified superabrasive product ofclaim 7, wherein the grinding tool is a wheel.
 9. A vitrifiedsuperabrasive product, comprising: a) a vitrified bond componentincluding silica and having a porosity of at least about fifty percentof the total volume of the vitrified diamond abrasive; and b) asuperabrasive component dispersed in the vitrified bond component, thesuperabrasive component consisting essentially of particles having anumber average particle size in a range of between about 0.5 microns andabout 60 microns, and wherein the volume ratio of superabrasivecomponent to the vitrified bond component is in a range of between about3:2 and about 1:99.
 10. A superabrasive mixture, comprising: a) a glasspowder; b) a superabrasive grit; c) a binder; and d) silicon carbide.11. The superabrasive mixture of claim 10, wherein the superabrasivegrit includes a diamond particulate.
 12. The superabrasive mixture ofclaim 11, wherein the superabrasive grit has an average particle size ina range of between about 0.5 μm and about 60 μm.
 13. The superabrasivemixture of claim 12, wherein volume ratio of superabrasive grit to glasspowder is in a range of between about 3:2 and about 1:99.
 14. Thesuperabrasive mixture of claim 10, wherein the silicon carbide ispresent in the form of particles having a number average particle sizein a range of between about 0.1 microns and about 20 microns.
 15. Thesuperabrasive mixture of claim 10, wherein the silicon carbide ispresent in the mixture in an amount in a range of between about 0.1 andabout 5 volume percent of the total amount glass powder, abrasive grit,binder and silicon carbide components of the mixture.
 16. Thesuperabrasive mixture of claim 10, wherein the glass powder includes atleast one member selected from the group consisting of silicon dioxide(SiO₂), boron oxide (B₂O₃), aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), alkali oxides (Li₂O,Na₂O, K₂O) and alkaline earth oxides (CaO, MgO, BaO).
 17. Thesuperabrasive mixture of claim 10, wherein the binder includes at leastone member selected from the group consisting of polyethylene glycol,water, a mixture of polyethylene glycol and water and colloidal silica.18. The superabrasive mixture of claim 10, wherein the mixture is in theform of a green body.